Effects of Highly Concentrated Enteral Nutrition on Nutritional Status and Bodyweight Maintenance in Chemotherapy-Treated Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancer / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of highly concentrated enteral nutrition (ENORAS®, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, Tokushima, Japan; hereinafter, ED) on the maintenance of nutritional status and bodyweight in chemotherapy-treated patients with gastrointestinal cancer who received ED between July 2019 and January 2020. For 21 patients (15 men and 6 women, age range 57-87 years old), we investigated serum albumin level, cholinesterase level, lymphocyte count, hemoglobin level, and bodyweight at baseline and after receiving ED. None of the patients showed any differences in albumin level, cholinesterase level, lymphocyte count, hemoglobin level, or bodyweight before and after receiving ED. Survivors had significantly favorable changes in cholinesterase level compared with non-survivors (p=0.0258). The group that received ED for 30 days or longer tended to show more favorable changes in bodyweight than the group that received ED for less than 30 days (p=0.0696). The group with stage I-III disease had more favorable changes in albumin level than the group with stage IV disease or recurrence (p=0.0932). Our results suggest that the ED is useful for helping to maintain nutritional status and bodyweight in chemotherapy-treated patients with gastrointestinal cancer.